‘This is an eternal torture’: China accused of making Uygur children into ‘orphans’ even though their parents are still alive
China says its centres help disadvantaged children. Uygurs say they’re being used to detain and re-educate the offspring of detained people – turning them into ‘orphans’ even when there is still a parent at home
Every morning, Meripet wakes up to her nightmare: the Chinese government has turned four of her children into orphans, even though she and their father are alive.
Meripet and her husband left the children with their grandmother at home in China when they went to nurse Meripet’s sick father in Turkey. But after Chinese authorities started locking up thousands of their fellow ethnic Uygurs for alleged subversive crimes such as travel abroad, a visit became exile.
Then, her mother-in-law was also taken prisoner, and Meripet learned from a friend that her children, ranging in age from three to eight, had been placed in a de facto orphanage in the Xinjiang region, under the care of the state that broke up her family.
“It’s like my kids are in jail,” Meripet said, her voice cracking. “My four children are separated from me and living like orphans.”
Watch: Why China is keeping a tight grip in Xinjiang
Meripet’s family is among tens of thousands swept up in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s campaign to subdue a sometimes restive region, including the internment of more than 1 million Uygurs and other Muslim minorities that has alarmed a UN panel and the US government.
When I finally see them again, will they even recognise me? Will I recognise them?